Newbie advice -Speakers for Large Space?

[joneser]

I have a 2000 square foot room that I need to light up with music! Its about 20 ft. wide by 50 ft. deep. I want to play music at moderate volumes that sounds good. I would like wall mounted speakers preferably small but I have no idea where to start at all. Does anyone have any suggestions on brands, # of speakers, etc? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,

joneser

[markw]

How many speakers were you considering using? ...and how much money are you willing to invest.

[piece-it pete]

How good do you want it?

It's such a large room it could get expensive. I would go as far to say quite expensive.

If you want bookshelves more than one pair would seem to be a neccessity, and you absolutely need a couple subs. M & K S-150, or used S-100 or S-100b are relatively small and can take 400-500 watts of unclipped power (they are often used as surrounds in movie theaters). Add a couple of good subs & you'll be good to go. The S-100/S-100b are supposed to be more "musical" than the S-150. This is just a suggestion from my experience (I've owned a S-100).

It's a shame you need bookshelves. In that size room a stereo can sound very good. I'd love to hear, say, Magnepan Tympanis with serious power (and, of course, a couple of good subs) in that room. Talk about "filling the room with sound"!! MG20s' might do the trick, too.

I'm sure others here have great suggestions.

To follow Marks' question: What receiver/amp do you have?

Pete

[Resident Loser]

...is it 2000sq ft or 20x50...that would be 1000sq ft...

In either case, it would actually be CUBIC feet that would be a starting point...need that ceiling height to calculate the volume...no, not that volume...and even that's not all to be taken into consideration...

Generally speaking, larger rooms require more powerful amplifiers to produce a given volume...yes, that volume or to be more correct, SPL(Sound Pressure Level)...

Bass frequencies require more power...and since the speakers may be required to push large amounts of air, smaller wall mounted units seem to be out...so larger units with perhaps custom or "industrial" types of bracketry may be required...

Then we have furnishings, or lack therof...furniture eats up power...lack of it builds a headache-machine...

You will probably be looking at multiple speakers and amplifiers or an office-type Muzak installation...but it's just going to be more of a sonic "wash"...don't expect any sort of "audiophile" quality set-up.

jimHJJ(...big and poorly shaped room to achieve that level of performance...multiple zones present their own problems...you may want to consider a smaller, dedicated listening area rather than "lighting up" the entire floorspace...although there may be solutions if you are willing to throw enough money at it...)